School Days Badges

Time flies and it’s already the last day of the year 2017. Everyone is probably busy clearing unwanted stuffs in the house to usher in the new year. After all, since everyone wants to have a fresh start for the brand new year ahead, it is a good practice or custom to dispose unwanted items that are taking up space to create more rooms for new items on our wish list to be acquired. While I was clearing my room yesterday, I found some badges worn or attained during my primary and secondary school days which made me feel pretty nostalgic.

Most of these badges I found were worn as part of my National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC) uniform during my secondary school days. Nothing could be more exciting, adventurous and memorable than joining a uniformed group as Co-Curricular Activity (CCA), something which was made compulsory by the Education Ministry to ensure every secondary school student lead a balanced and fulfilling school life. As I was pretty timid and reserved during my primary school days, joining a uniformed group had never crossed my mind initially. I was hoping to join a CCA that was more laid back just to earn enough points to meet the academic requirements to graduate from secondary school. However, my parents wanted me to join a uniformed group instead to toughen myself up for national service. There was a few uniformed group available in my secondary school namely National Police Cadet Crops (NPCC), National Cadet Corps (NCC) - Sea, Boys’ & Girls’ Brigade (BB & GB), St John Ambulance Brigade (SJAB) and Concert Band. Since I had ever been a member of the instrumental ensemble group before in primary school, joining the Concert Band seemed to be a good idea but they did not have any physical activities to toughen me up. I was not interested in becoming a first aider either and therefore SJAB was not in any of my choice. Although BB seemed to be a good choice, it is affiliated to the Christian faith requires its boys to participate in religious activities such as bible sessions which a non Christian family like mine was not comfortable with. NCC - Sea had many gruelling physical activities which my dad felt that it was not suitable for me after knowing from a senior member during my school CCA Open House event that because their activities were so physically demanding, all new members were required to undergo a health examination before joining. Hence NPCC became my only choice.

NPCC was a demanding CCA that required its members to devote much time and commitment to all its activities. Because it represents the Singapore Police Force, much emphasis were placed on regimentation. Every cadet regardless of rank was required to turn up in tip top attire with neatly ironed uniform and polished boots for parade every Saturday morning. The weekly parade consisted of activities such as foot drill (with baton or rifle) most of the time, theory or practical lessons on basic skills like First Aid, Crime Prevention, Fire Safety etc, Camp Craft (pitching of tents, knots & lashings and lighting kerosine oil lamps) and Physical Trainings (push ups, jumping, running etc). These activities were conducted by teacher officers (i.e. teachers appointed by the school principal to take charge of the CCA) or Cadet/Honorary Inspectors (Ex NPCC members who volunteered their time to take part in NPCC activities while studying in junior college, ITE, polytechnic or university) and administered by senior members in secondary 3 or 4, known as Non Commissioned Officers (NCOs). Every year, there were various activities such as Camping in school or Pulau Ubin island, Revolver Shooting, Camp Craft Competition, NPCC & National Day Parade happening during term time and school holiday. One of the proudest aspects of joining NPCC was the opportunity to experience training with weapon. There were foot drills involving the use of old rifles which were used during World War 2 and eventually distributed to all secondary schools and came under the custody of the school principal and maintained by NPCC members. All NPCC cadets also had the opportunity to fire the .22 revolver (carried by police women on duty) live at the Police Academy. After attending all the various activities, cadets feel proud upon passing the required tests and obtain the related badges.

Here are the descriptions of the above badges I attained.

(1) Civil Defence Proficiency Badge

This badge was awarded upon attending a 3 days course conducted by the Singapore Civil Defence Force on basic First Aid & Fire Fighting and passing the theory and practical test. Somehow, I missed the session which the entire cohort of secondary 3 and 4 cadets went to the community centre near our school for this course and had to go to one of the Civil Defence camp together with few other cadets to attend this course.

(2) NPCC Safety First Proficiency Badge

This was the very first badge I obtained and was awarded upon passing the theory test consisting of few multiple choice questions on traffic signs and rules. One of the teacher officers conducted a short lesson on this topic followed by the theory test which was fairly simple.

(3) NPCC Crime Prevention Proficiency Badge

This badge was awarded upon passing the theory test consisting of few multiple choice questions on Crime Prevention. One of the teacher officers conducted a short lesson on this topic followed by the theory test which was fairly simple.

(4) NPCC Neighbourhood Watch Proficiency Badge

This badge was awarded upon passing the theory test consisting of few multiple choice questions on Neighbourhood Watch. One of the teacher officers conducted a short lesson on this topic followed by the theory test which was fairly simple.

(5) Singapore Anti Narcotics Association (SANA) Anti Drug Abuse Badge

This badge was awarded upon attending a 3 days course conducted by SANA on anti drug abuse, passing the theory test and completion of a small project. From what I recall, this course was conducted like once every year and I was one of the 4 cadets (2 males and 2 females) chosen by our main teacher officer during secondary 3 to attend. This torturing 3 days course consisted of long hours of lectures. The SANA volunteers talked about the various types of drug and how people abuse them while police officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) shared how they detect, arrest and prevent people from abusing or smuggling drugs. This course was conducted at SANA headquarter which was located at Orchard, near The Forum shopping mall at that time. Fortunately, we were dressed in our full NPCC uniform while attending the lessons because the air-conditioning in their lecture room was so cold. We were given $3 per day for lunch by NPCC headquarter which was obviously not sufficient given the fact that a proper meal cost more at Singapore prime shopping district. To save the hassle, the 4 of us including many other attendees settled our lunch at the fast food restaurant across the course venue. When we were dispersed for lunch in our full NPCC attire, there were many curious tourists (mostly And Mohs) wondering why there were so many policemen and policewomen out on the streets. LOL

(6) NPCC Drill Proficiency Badge (3rd Class)

This badge was awarded upon passing the test on giving commands to a squad to perform basic foot drill.

(7) NPCC Drill Proficiency Badge (2nd Class)

This badge was awarded upon passing the test on giving commands to a squad to perform foot drill with rifle.

(8) NPCC Name Tag

Every NPCC cadet wears a name tag above the left breast pocket.

(9) Singapore Police Force Crest

Every NPCC cadet wears this crest above the left eye on his/her beret.

(11) NPCC Unit Formation Logo

Every NPCC cadet wears the formation (school) logo on both side to show which unit (school) he/she is from.

The non NPCC badges include ..

(10) Presbyterian High School (PHS) Badge

Every PHS student wears this school badge above the left pocket of the shirt/blouse. Before I was enrolled into the school, the school logo was different and the badge was sewn onto the shirt/blouse at the same position. When I enrolled into the school, the logo changed and after students complained about being uncool/childish wearing a cloth badge, the school decided to switch to this metal badge which is worn by existing students till today. Although it looks more fancy wearing a metal badge, there is a chance of getting poked by the safety pin if we are not careful. Moreover, some students may forget to wear this school badge when they are in a rush and risk being caught and booked by prefects.

(12 - 14) National Swimming Survival Award (Bronze, Silver, Gold)

These badges were awarded upon passing the National Swimming Survival test conducted by Singapore Sports Council. The test consisted of 3 parts. First, candidates were required to tread water for several minutes in their pyjamas (shirt and trousers) attire followed by removing the pyjamas, tying knots on both ends of the trousers and blow air into it to form a "float" and used it to swim for half a lap without having feet touching the floor or holding on to the edges of the swimming pool. Immediately thereafter, the candidate would be required to swim for several laps without feet touching the floor or holding on to the edges to complete test. Finally, candidates were expected to come out of the swimming pool without the use of the ladder to pass the test. This test was supposed to simulate the scenario of falling into the sea, swimming to shore and climb up via the rocks. The duration of treading water and number of lap increases as the candidate progressed from Bronze to Gold award.

Looking at these old badges certainly makes me feel having some sense of achievements during my school days and motivates me to obtain more certificates in future.